Back in October, the Sixers made their first 11 shots and raced to leads of 19-0 and 26-4, putting the champs on their heels a night after they received their rings.

"It seems 1,000 years ago," Sixers coach Brett Brown said.

It also was the highlight of a season that has the Sixers tumbling toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference -- which has been the plan all along as the franchise tries to gobble lottery picks and rebuild. It's why Brown has a four-year contract and a promise of patience from ownership.

But that win against the Heat still danced in their heads until tip.

"They were able to beat an NBA champion, and you can't take it away from them," Brown said.

No, but they sure couldn't do it again. The Heat scored 17 seconds into the game, raced to a 12-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back.

James brought what had to be about 10,000 Heat fans to their feet with a rim-rattling dunk in transition. Bosh scored 15 in the first half, and Battier hit three 3s. The Sixers? Well, they missed 12 of 13 3-point attempts in the first half and committed 10 turnovers. They never led.

They rested their starters and played all subs in the fourth.

"They earned the right to keep trying to make a push for it," Hawes said.

James crushed Davies in a one-on-one mismatch late in the fourth, burying a string of midrange jumpers to stretch the lead to 20. Bosh-to-James for the alley-oop made it 96-79.

Dwyane Wade, who missed the first game against the Sixers, scored eight points on his 32nd birthday. He missed the first Sixers game because it was the second game on back-to-back nights. He will sit out Saturday's game at Charlotte and said he won't try to push through back-to-back games at this point in the season.

"We know how to fix it," Wade said. "Sometimes, it takes you going through certain things to fix it."

James posted a collage of photos on his Instagram account as part of a birthday tribute to his friend and teammate.

"Happy Bday to my running mate, homie, brother, and most of all straight up friend!" James wrote. "The friendship we've created our rookie year at pre draft camp was pure and that's why we stuck together from that point on! Obviously didn't know we would eventually become teammates and do the things we've done so far. I came to Miami for 2 reasons. To play with U and to win championships and I can't thank u enough for the sacrifice you've made since I arrived homie! No matter what happens in the future we stuck together like brothers for life."

James, who can become a free agent again this summer, was amused that his message was interpreted by some that he might leave Miami.

"I was more focused on our friendship and where life can take us," he said.

Game notes

Los Angeles Angels OF Mike Trout was at the game. ... Heat C Greg Oden sat out two days after he played his first game in four-plus years. Oden wore a basketball-sized ice pack on his left knee in the locker room before the game. ... Brown, a long-time assistant for San Antonio, said it was hard to forget how the Spurs lost Game 6 and then the NBA Finals to the Heat. "You just want to flip a desk," he said. ... Wade said before the game that his mom had yet to call to wish him a happy birthday.

Research Notes

Heat Defense Since Dec. 20

Tonight vs 76ers

Previous 13 Games*

PPG

86

105.3

FG pct

36.9%

49.5%

3-pt FG pct

10.0%

39.0%

*Since last game vs Pacers

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Chris Bosh was huge for the Heat, going for 25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 assists...
That is something that LeBron James has never done even once in his career. The only other players in Heat history to reach those numbers in a single game are Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning.